Costco, housing & dining to transform KC-area industrial site. When it could open
An industrial corridor in Lee’s Summit will become the home of a new Costco next year, anchoring a planned development along with several stores, apartments and trails.
The Lee’s Summit City Council voted Tuesday night to approve a preliminary development plan for Oldham Village East, a 130-acre multi-use project with the warehouse grocery store as its centerpiece.
The $416 million development would sit at the intersection of two highways – U.S. Highway 50 and Missouri Route 291. The Costco is one of 21 planned projects within the development area so far, said Hector Soto Jr., a senior planner for the city of Lee’s Summit. The first phase will encompass 13 lots, including two apartment complexes.
A second series of eight projects on the eastern portion of the land are set to follow, with more detailed plans expected to be brought to the City Council next month.
Matt Schlicht, the owner of Lee’s Summit civil engineering firm Engineering Solutions, said Tuesday that the planned development has been “a long time coming.”
Building a Village
Schlicht said that the developers, Overland Park-based Drake Development, hope to break ground on the new Costco in spring 2026. Drake CEO Matt Pennington said that construction on the development in general is expected to start in January, with a potential Costco grand opening in October.
The mixed-use development is also set to include recreational areas, along with other retail buildings, fine dining restaurants and drive-through eateries. The second phase of construction will include the demolition of the old Pfizer manufacturing plant, which used to anchor the space between the two highways.
Drake Development also plans to build walking trails that connect the development directly to the existing trail network within the city, Schlicht said. The project will also include road work on Bailey Road and 291, along with stormwater and infrastructure improvements and at least two new traffic signals.
“We think this is a great fit, this location,” said Stephen Cross, Costco’s real estate development director. “We like this access for our existing members as well as our new members here.”
Pennington said Tuesday night that he hopes the scope of the project, with both residential and retail spaces, will transform the industrial corridor between highways enough to easily attract future commercial tenants.
“Convincing retailers to come to this market is not easy,” Pennington said. “But to convince key retailers to join a key intersection that looks like an industrial hub is extremely difficult…to have the ability to be in front of you tonight to say that we have Costco has been a collective effort.”
Costco draws anticipation
The Costco itself is expected to be a 166,000 square foot building on a 24-acre plot at the northeast corner of the site, Cross said, including 888 parking spots, “extensive landscaping” and a freestanding gas station with 24 to 32 gas pumps.
Cross said that Costco franchises generally function as “destination sites,” meaning they draw customers from a comparatively wide geographic area and are expected to boost traffic to other adjacent businesses.
The new store is expected to create 150-200 jobs, about half of which would be full-time, Cross said.
“We draw customers to our site who also frequent other businesses within the area,” Cross said. “We generate taxes on significant disposable income within the community.”
Schlicht said that two apartment buildings in Oldham Village East will round out the first wave of planned development, one with 320 units and the other with 250.
Drake Development held a community meeting last month for residents to submit feedback on their plans.
“We did have a number of residents or business owners down at 16th Street talking through some of the needs and wants that they have down there,” Schlicht said. “Our conversation with them was, ‘This project will bring a number of utilities down in that area that we think will provide a good improvement to that area.’”
The city also plans to conduct a traffic study after the Costco opens. Schlicht said that after consulting with the Missouri Department of Transportation, he does not expect the grocery megastore and its neighbors to significantly clash with nearby highway traffic patterns.
“Everybody feels comfortable at this time that the improvements that are listed will not impact that side,” Schlicht said.
As plans for construction move forward, city officials will discuss potential public financial incentives.
